My Little Pony: Their Greatest Adventure
by Erin T. Aardvark
Summary: The evil sorceress Enchantra resurrects Tirac and the two of them intend to plunge the world into Eternal Darkness once more
1. Chapter 1

My Little Pony: Their Greatest Adventure

_AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is the "follow-up" story to my "The Birth of Ponyland" fanfic. I use the term loosely, considering I wrote this one while I was still in high school, long before I even considered writing "TBOP." So please forgive some of the mistakes, and possible plot holes that you can drive a truck through._

The sun rose over the mountains beyond Dream Valley. The snow on a nearby tree branch fell to the ground. Two blue birds woke up and flew around Ponyland, waking every animal in the land up, to let them know it was spring time. The snow was melting. It was time for the Little Ponies in Paradise Estate to hold their annual Spring Festival. The minute the bluebirds got to Paradise Estate, they went directly to the nursery and sang a lively tune. That tune woke up Baby Lofty. She got out of her bed and looked out the window."

"Oh boy!" she shouted. "Spring time!"

Soon, the other baby ponies woke up and looked out the window. They cheered. They couldn't wait for the Spring Festival to begin. At that exact moment, the Little Ponies ran out of Paradise Estate in order to make the preparations for the Festival."

"This is going to be the best Spring Festival ever!" Fizzy exclaimed."

"But what if something goes wrong?" Shady asked."

"What can go wrong, Shady?" Gusty asked, who had little patients for Shady at times."

"Smooze," was all Shady said."

Gusty was speechless. Shady did have a point. The year before this, the witches from the Volcano of Gloom had sicced Smooze on the Little Ponies, and that almost ruined the Spring Festival."

"That was last year, Shady," Lofty said, flying over. "This is, well, this year! And besides, the witches learned their lesson. They won't try anything like that again! Besides, I have news. My cousin, Airedale, is coming for a visit today. He's dropping in for the Spring Festival."

"That's great," Fizzy said. "I don't think we've ever met your cousin."

"Nobody here has," Lofty said. She flew off to give Baby Lofty the good news."

Gusty, Fizzy, and Shady continued to set up for the Festival. They were joined by Lickety Split and Masquerade. The ponies human friends were also there. they were giving the ponies a helping hand.

"I think we'll be ready for the festivities in no time," Ribbon said. "Absolutely nothing can go wrong today!"

Ribbon was about to be proved wrong. As she spoke, she was being watched through a crystal ball. Two hands were circling it, but the body was covered in total shadow.

"You may think that now, little pony," the voice belonging to the hands said. "But you haven't seen me in action yet. You little ponies think it's going to be a beautiful spring day. Bah!"

The voice belonged to a sorceress, wanting to turn the world into eternal darkness for centuries. But she never got the chance. She was always stopped. Even others who also wanted eternal darkness were stopped, even the great Tirac, who was stopped by the little ponies' Rainbow of Light. The sorceress watched her crystal ball intently.

"For years, I have wanted to seek revenge on Claudius Nelson for defeating me in a task so great that it destroyed my power for centuries!" she shouted "But since he died with no family, I never had a chance to do so. No matter. I'll get even with the little ponies instead. It was, after all, their first queen who, with the rest of the unicorns, created the Rainbow of Light which destroyed my power."


	2. Chapter 2

Back at Dream Valley, Buttons and Slugger began blowing up balloons for the festival. Slugger smiled at Buttons and she smiled back. Then, Firefly and Medley hung the balloons on the wall, making the Estate look pretty.

"That's enough balloons, you guys!" Firefly called. She and Medley flew away.

"Alone at last," Buttons said.

Slugger smiled. Buttons was about to nuzzle up to him when a pale yellow streak blew past them, followed by a gust of wind. Buttons' hair was in shambles thanks to that.

"Wow!" she shouted.

The pale yellow streak made it's way around Paradise Estate, basically ruining everyone's hair do. It blew Anne's baseball cap clear off her head!

"What is _that_?!" she shouted.

"And I thought Whizzer was the fast one!" Franky shouted.

"Hey!" Firefly shouted as the streak whizzed past her.

"Look out!" Medley shouted, and the streak bumped directly into her and both of them fell to the ground. Lofty and Baby Lofty ran to them.

"Medley! Are you all right?" Lofty asked.

"I think so," Medley said.

"Gee whiz, I'm sorry!" the yellow streak shouted. He turned out to be a Pegasus pony, but he didn't look like the other Big Brothers. He was pale yellow like Lofty and had straight white hair. He wore a scarf and an aviator's helmet, and had an airplane on his hind quarters. He looked at Medley and gaped.

"I, uh, I hope I didn't hurt you when I crashed into you," he said.

"Oh no," Medley said, stars appearing in her eyes as well. "I'm all right."

"Well, I see you two have met!" Lofty shouted. "Medley, this is my cousin, Airedale. Airedale, this is my friend, Medley.

"Hi," Medley said, softly.

"Medley," Airedale repeated. "What a pretty name. It sounds . . . it sounds like . . . like music!"

Lofty giggled and introduced Airedale to the other ponies and their friends.

"Airedale's a pony cannon ball in a pony circus," she said.

"Wow!" Firefly shouted. "My kinda man!"

"That sounds like it's dangerous," Medley said. "I worry about things like danger all the time."

"That's a practical pony," Airedale said. "And a pretty one. A pretty practical pony. Ha, ha."

"Gag," Anne said. Then she jumped on Firefly's back, and took to the air. It was starting to get too mushy for her taste.

"But you don't have anything to worry about, Medley," Airedale said. "I laugh in the face of danger! Ha, ha, ha, ha!"

And with that, Airedale took off, and did a triple summer sault with a back flip. Then he picked up speed, and tried another flip, checking to see if Medley was still watching. Unfortunately, he slammed right into a tree branch and crashed to the ground.

"Are you all right?" Medley asked. "You're not hurt, are you?"

"Just my pride," Airedale said. "I was going for a half gainer, but it turned out to be a full loser."

"Oh, I think it was fine," Medley said. And with that, both Medley and Airedale flew off.

"I think someone's got a boyfriend!" Danny sang.

"It's amazing," Magic Star replied. "I always thought Heart Throb would get a boyfriend before any of us. You know how romantic she gets."

After that, the other ponies and their friends went to work on the Spring Festival. Buttons had to go down to the Baby Bonnet School of Dance to check out the preparations for the show. She hoped Baby Lickety Split wouldn't show off like she did last year.

"Now all of you are a team," she said, giving Baby Lickety Split a Look. "None of you have any solos, so please don't show off!"

Baby Lickety Split nodded. She remembered all too well what had happened last year.

However, as the ponies were preparing, the sorceress was watching them through her crystal ball.

"Soon, ponies," she said. "I'll have my revenge. You won't be able to escape what I have in store for you. And soon, the entire world will be black. First of all, I must find a way to dampen the little ponies' spirits."

The sorceress snapped her fingers and a book came to her. She skimmed it until she found the spell she was looking for.

"Perfect!" she shouted. "I'll start a fire on their precious Paradise Estate. That way, the ponies will have nowhere to go."


	3. Chapter 3

_AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry this took so long to get up. But things happened. I was going to wait until I was done re-writing another story, but then I decided to just scrap said other story and continue with this, mostly because I was losing interest in making rewrites in the other one, and then I got going on my Hanna-Barbera fandom. So sorry for the delay, and the rest of this one should be up soon._

* * *

The sorceress cackled madly as she waited until the show was over. First up was the Bushwoolie Marching Band. Next on the program was the Baby Pony Dancers. Luckily, that went smoother than it did last year! After the Baby Ponies came Megan, Franky, and Anne dancing to a pop song from the radio back on Earth. Once they were done with that, everyone went back to the Estate to relax.

"Finally we've got a Spring Festival with no flaws," Magic Star said, stretching.

"I know," Truly replied. "And let me tell you, it feels good!"

"I hope your cousin enjoyed it, Lofty," Galaxy said.

"I think he enjoys Medley more," Anne laughed.

The others murmured in agreement and giggled. Lofty looked out the window and saw Airedale doing flips in the air and Medley was giggling at him. She just gave a little nod to her head and turned to the others.

"He's such a show off," she said. The others laughed.

The sorceress looked at the scene through her crystal ball and cackled under her breath.

"Isn't this a pretty picture?" she said. "It almost makes me feel bad to set their home on fire. Almost."

The sorceress pointed her finger at the crystal and a beam of magic blasted it. That was what she wanted to do for power. She just pointed a finger and whatever she wanted to do was done. The minute she pointed her finger, the roof over the kitchen burst into flames. Fizzy sniffed the air. She thought she smelled something burning.

"Cupcake," she said." I think your cake is burning."

"But . . ." Cupcake said, "I'm not even baking a cake!"

"You're not?"

"No."

"Then, what's that burning smell?"

Franky stood up and walked over to the kitchen. Then he gasped.

"Oh Mylanta!" he shouted. He started running back to the others. "Paradise Estate's on fire!"

"Everybody get out!" Galaxy ordered. "Quickly!"

Every single pony darted out of the Estate as fast as they could. The fire was spreading quickly. Even the trees behind it were burning!

"I'll blow it out!" Gusty shouted.

"Gusty no!" Megan yelled.

However, Gusty didn't listen. She used her wind powers to blow the fire out. But the wind only caused the fire to spread. It made it's way to the nursery.

"Oh no!" Ribbon shouted. "The Baby Ponies!"

"We've got to get them out of the nursery before the fire reaches it!" Bubbles shouted.

Megan, Danny, Julie, Franky, Anne, and all the mother ponies ran into the nursery and led all the baby ponies out of the nursery.

"Where we going?" Baby Glory asked.

"Just follow us," Glory replied.

"Don't ask any questions," Anne said. "Just move!"

"Hurry!" Julie shouted.

The Baby Ponies moved out of the nursery, just as the fire reached it. It was spreading fast.

"Everybody up to the hill!" Firefly shouted. "We'll be safe there!"

"Lead the way, Firefly!" Magic Star shouted.

Firefly led everyone to the top of the hill, far away from the fire. They made it there just in time to see the fire burn itself out. Paradise Estate and the Lullaby Nursery were destroyed. Sweet Stuff started to cry.

"Our home," she said. "Our beautiful home!"

"What are we gonna do now?" Shady asked.

"Sorry, guys," Gusty said, sheepishly. "I didn't mean to . . ."

"It's not your fault, Gusty," Magic Star said. "You didn't know you'd spread the fire."

"But the problem is figuring out where the ponies are gonna go," Anne said.

The sorceress laughed. She loved to cause misery among people.

"I have you now, ponies," she said, pointing her finger to the ball. "Just try to get out of this one!"

The sorceress laughed. She had something deliciously wicked up her sleeve. She sent a little magic beam into her magic ball, and waited. She laughed as she watched what was going on in her crystal. Now it was time to plunge the world in eternal darkness. Then she looked up the spell in her spell book. She wasn't pleased after she did.

"Drat," she said. "I'm going to need the Rainbow of Darkness. But that was destroyed when those meddlesome ponies destroyed Tirac. No matter. I can always bring him back."

The sorceress walked over to her crystal and waved her hands around it. There, she got a vision of Tirac, the evil Minotaur who needed four ponies to pull his chariot of darkness. The Rainbow of Light had destroyed him, but the sorceress knew how to bring him back. She raised her hands and there was a sudden clap of thunder and a flash of lightning. In the blink of an eye, in the sorceress' throne room was Tirac, with his Rainbow of Darkness.

"Ah, Tirac, my old friend," she said.

"It has been awhile, my dear Enchantra," Tirac said. "It's good to be back at Midnight Castle."

"The place certainly went to seed since you left. No matter. I've fixed it up. Anyway, I brought you back for a purpose."

"And what purpose is that?"

"I want to plunge the world in eternal darkness. And I need your Rainbow of Darkness to do it. This will put an end to those Little Ponies' fun forever. However, I'll handle everything. You don't need your chariot."

"That was destroyed anyway. No matter. I'll gladly plunge the world into darkness."

"Good. We have to use certain procedures, or else the spell won't work right."

Enchantra stepped into the light, to reveal herself as a very beautiful young sorceress (even though she was nearly three thousand years old), with long black hair and dark eyes, and a star shaped mark on her forehead. She wore a long dark dress, but no jewelry that supplied her power. It didn't matter. She had plenty to spare. And with Tirac's Rainbow of Darkness, she couldn't go wrong. The first step of Eternal Darkness was to unleash the Rainbow of Darkness onto the crystal ball.

"This will only cause the sun to go out temporarily," Enchantra said. "We'll worry about the rest later."

"Excellent," Tirac replied. He opened his pouch and the Rainbow of Darkness flew out into the crystal, blocking the sun over Ponyland.

"The first step is complete," Enchantra laughed. "Let's see them try to overcome this!"


	4. Chapter 4

In the meantime, the ponies and their friends were still looking at the frame of the burned down Estate.

"I can't believe it," Megan said. "Paradise Estate is gone."

"If I hadn't been so stupid and made that wind to try to blow it out," Gusty said, hanging her head, and stomping her hoof into the ground. "It's all my fault."

"Oh no, Gusty, it isn't your fault," Fizzy said, nuzzling her best friend. "You didn't know it would happen."

"It really doesn't matter now," Franky said. "We have to figure out what to do about the Estate before it gets dark."

As if that were the sky's cue, it got dark. Clouds covered, and a drizzle began coming down.

"Looks like rain," Paradise said.

"You and your big mouth," Anne said, shooting Franky a glare.

"Maybe the Flutter Ponies will let us stay with them," Fizzy said.

"Fizzy, that's a great idea!" Gusty shouted.

"Okay," Megan said. "Gusty, Fizzy, Galaxy, Anne, and I will go to Flutter Valley. The rest of you stay here and see if you can keep dry if it starts raining or something."

The group was off. Flutter Valley wasn't far from the Estate. However, it seemed to get darker as they reached Flutter Valley.

"Sure gets dark quickly around these parts," Anne said.

"Something funny's going on here," Galaxy said. "It's not natural."

"Yeah, it's only noon," Gusty said.

Suddenly, a lightning bolt flashed across the sky and zoomed toward Flutter Valley. The three unicorns, Megan, and Anne heard the Flutter Ponies scream and they ran to the Valley.

"What happened?" Gusty asked.

"A bolt of lightning broke the Sun Stone in half!" Peach Blossom shouted.

"That's not good," Fizzy said.

"There blows one idea," Gusty said. "Paradise Estate burned down. We don't have anywhere to go."

"Let's just go back to Dream Valley and figure out what to do from there," Megan said.

The others decided that was the best idea they had thus far. They walked back through the forest and back to what was left of the Estate. Paradise and Cupcake were waiting on the hill. They were surprised to see the Flutter Ponies with Megan, Anne, and the three unicorns.

"What's the news?" Cupcake asked.

"A bolt of lightning broke the Sun Stone," Rosedust said.

"This looks bad," Paradise said.

"But at least the good news is we found a cave to stay dry in for the time being," Ribbon said, running up to the others. "Everybody follow me."

The group moved into a large cave that was around the hills of Ponyland. Sparkler had her horn lit up for light. The other ponies saw the group return, and their spirits fell when they saw the Flutter Ponies.

"Let me guess," Sparkler said. "Flutter Valley's gone, too?"

"Pretty much," Morning Glory sighed. "The Sun Stone has been destroyed."

"Oh no!" Julie gasped. "Without the Sun Stone Flutter Valley will die!"

"I think there's only one thing to do," Moondancer said. "We have to get to the Royal Paradise!"

"How come?" Mimic asked.

"Majesty and the Princess Ponies will be able to help us," Moondancer said. "And they'll let us stay in the castle, there, too!"

"Good idea!" Firefly shouted. "Let's go!"

Moondancer and Paradise led the way to the Royal Paradise. The entire congregation of Paradise Estate followed. They didn't know what else to do, and they hoped that the castle at the Royal Paradise was still standing. It was, but it was dark and dreary there, as well.

"It doesn't look good here," Franky said.

The drawbridge opened, and Princess Royal Blue ran out.

"I'm glad you all are here!" she shouted. "We have a big problem!"

"So do we," Paradise said. "A fire burned down Paradise Estate and the nursery."

"We were hoping you and the other Princess Ponies and Majesty could help us," Galaxy said.

"That's our problem," Royal Blue said. "Everyone come inside. I'll show you what I mean."

The ponies and their friends came into the castle, and followed Royal Blue up the stairs and to a bedroom. The other Princess Ponies were all standing around a bed. Majesty, the queen of Ponyland, was sleeping on it.

"She just went to sleep and she won't wake up," Princess Starburst explained. "And we've tried everything."

"You haven't been playing with your unicorn magic again, have you, Moondancer?" Cotton Candy asked.

"No! Of course not!" Moondancer shouted, indignantly.

"I sense a bad feeling about this," Galaxy said. "Maybe Majesty's under an eternal sleep spell."

"Oh no!" Fizzy shouted. "What do we do?"

"I know there's a way to break the spell," Paradise said. "I just don't remember exactly what it is."

"Did it have to do with magic?" Sweet Stuff asked.

"I think so," Paradise said.

"Then I think we may have to go see the Moochick," Megan said. "If magic is involved."

Fizzy, Wind Whistler, Galaxy, and Paradise went with Megan to see the Moochick. The others staid behind to try to figure out what to do. The four of them walked along until it began to get darker.

"This isn't natural, Megan," Galaxy said. "It's not a normal rain cloud, either."

"The Moochick will know what it is!" Fizzy shouted. "And he'll know how to fix it!"

"I hope you're right, Fizzy," Megan said.

Megan and the three ponies walked to the Mushrump. The Moochick was sitting outside, reading a book.

"Mr. Moochick!" Fizzy called out. "We're sorry to bother you, but we need help."

"Help? Again?" the Moochick asked, putting his book down. "My, my, my, my, you ponies get yourself into more trouble than anyone I know!"

"We realize that, Mr. Moochick," Wind Whistler said. "But we need to inquire if you agonize anything about this sudden somberness."

"Huh?" Fizzy asked.

"She said we need to ask Mr. Moochick if he knows anything about the sudden darkness," Galaxy whispered.

"Hmmm, seems familiar," Mr. Moochick said. "I think I have a book around somewhere. HABBIT!"

Habbit was Mr. Moochick's rabbit, and he was smarter than the Moochick! Habit hopped about the house, just as Mr. Moochick, Megan, and the ponies walked inside. He gave Mr. Moochick the book.

"Ah yes, here it is!" he shouted, opening up a page. "Eternal Darkness. It says here that this spell has been tried many times, once by Tirac, who was stopped by the Rainbow of Light, and the other by the sorceress Enchantra, who was stopped by a great warrior, Claudius Nelson."

"I've heard of him," Paradise said. "Wasn't he the creator of Ponyland, and didn't he die in a fight with Enchantra?"

"Yes," Mr. Moochick continued. "Even though Enchantra has lived for years, her powers really never ceased. This looks just like her work."

"Mr. Moochick, we have another problem you might want to look at," Megan said. "The Princess Ponies said that Majesty just fell asleep, and they can't wake him up."

"We think it has to do with magic," Fizzy said. "Will you look at it for us?"

"Might as well, might as well," Mr. Moochick said. "Lead on!"


	5. Chapter 5

The forest the group had to pass was dark and spooky before Tirac and Enchantra started their Eternal Darkness spell, but now it was scarier. Sparkler led the way, giving just enough light for the group to see where they were going.

"It's creepy in here," Airedale said.

"Ha, you should see it normally," Lofty said.

"I hope we reach Midnight Castle soon," Franky said, looking around. "This place gives me chills!"

Suddenly, Franky heard some rustling in the bushes. He screamed right into Anne's ear.

"Loud much?" she said, cleaning her ear out.

"I'll go see what it is!" Firefly shouted, and she jumped into the bush. She popped out with the Bushwoolies.

"It's scary out here!" one shouted.

"Yeah, scary! Real scary, yeah, yeah scary!" the other Bushwoolies agreed.

"We don't want to be alone!"

"No, not alone, no, uh uh!"

"I guess they can come with us," Megan said.

"The more the merrier, I always say," Airedale replied.

"Besides, we may need a little extra help defeated Tirac and Enchantra," Buttons said. "Especially without the Rainbow of Light."

The group walked further into the woods. Firefly flew in front of Sparkler, since she knew the way to Midnight Castle and Sparkler didn't. The forest got darker as they walked further down. Suddenly, they heard the sound of growling in the distance. It was so dark, nobody could see what it was.

"Franky, you got a flashlight?" Anne asked.

"Yeah, somewhere in here," Franky said, digging through his backpack.

Anne, Megan, and Franky fiddled around with the bag, pulling out just about everything until Anne found the flashlight. She turned it on the shined it on the bushes where the growling was coming from. It turned out to be a giant dragon.

"Oh Mylanta," Anne said.

"Run!" Megan shouted, jumping on Firefly's back.

Anne jumped on Paradise while Franky climbed on Lofty, and they flew off. The unicorns winked out, and the Earth Ponies and the Bushwoolies ran away. The dragon growled and breathed fire at the ponies and the others. Enchantra watched what was going on through her crystal ball and cracked up.

"I knew my dragon would stop them," she said. "Finish them off!"

The dragon growled and chased the Earth Ponies and the Bushwoolies. The ponies hid in the bushes while the Bushwoolies dug tunnels underground. However, one was a little late and the dragon caught him and swallowed him. Then he breathed fire at some of the ponies.

"What are we gonna do?!" Applejack asked, panicked.

"Hey Furnace Breath!" Franky called. "Up here!"

"Bet you can't catch us!" Lofty shouted. She and Franky flew around until they were above the river.

"Nyah-nyah-nyah-nyah-nyah-nyah!" Franky called.

The dragon growled and stepped into the river. Then Anne stuck her fingers in her mouth and whistled.

"Now, Sea Ponies!" she shouted.

The Sea Ponies popped out of the water and splashed the dragon repeatedly until his fire went out. Then, the Sea Ponies pushed him toward the current where he was swept under and was never seen from again.

"Alas, poor Bushwoolie," Franky said, putting his hand over his heart. "We hardly knew ye."

The Ponies, Megan, Anne, Franky, and the Bushwoolies gave a moment of silence for the Bushwoolie that was eaten by the dragon. Then they continued on their way.

"Is it just me or is it getting darker?" Applejack asked.

"I think it's getting darker," Bow Tie replied. "But I don't think there really is anything to worry about."

"Easy for you to say!" Firefly said. "It's getting so dark you can't see your hooves in front of your face!"

"And the batteries in the flashlight are going dead," Anne replied, smacking the flashlight, hoping that would help."

"That does it!" Gusty said. "I can't walk another step!"

"And it's still a long way to Midnight Castle," Bow Tie replied.

"But we can't stop," Lofty said. "We promised the others that we'd defeat Tirac and Enchantra."

"Lofty, we're tired!" Fizzy said. "It's dark, it's scary, the batteries in that dumb flashlight are almost dead, my feet hurt, and I'm ready to collapse! I say we take a break!"

Most of the others looked at each other. Micky, Gusty, and Fizzy sat down. Applejack followed a minute later, and so did Sparkler and Powder. Medley and Firefly sat down as well and so did all the Bushwoolies. Pretty soon, Lofty was the only one standing up.

"Come on, you guys," she said. "We can't quit now! What'll happen to Ponyland if we do?"

"Lofty, we aren't quitting," Medley said. "We're only until we get our strength back. We're tired."

"I don't care!" Lofty shouted. "We can't stop and that's that! We have to keep going!"

The others stared at her as if she had broccoli sprouting out of her hair. They didn't budge.

"Look," Lofty continued. "Ponyland will be doomed if we don't stop Enchantra or Tirac. And if Ponyland is doomed, probably the whole world's gonna be doomed, as well as the people in it. And what about Majesty? Are we just gonna sit here and let that spell take over her body? She's counting on us! And so are the others. You may not care about what happens, but I do! And I'll go alone if I have to!"

Lofty flapped her wings, and started to fly away. The others looked at each other and hung their heads.

"She's got a way of giving a guilt trip," Gusty said.

"Lofty wait!" Anne called, jumping up and running to her friend. "I'll go with you, Lofty."

"Thanks, Anne," Lofty said, with a smile. "I knew I could count on you."

"Us too, Lofty!" Baby Moondancer called.

"We no give up!" Baby Ribbon said, speaking for the Baby Ponies.

"Thanks a lot, you guys," Lofty replied. "I knew I could count on you, too!"

"Me too," Firefly said.

"Me three," Bow Tie said.

"Me four," Fizzy said.

The others got up and ran to Lofty, ready to join the fight. Sparkler lit up her horn.

"Firefly," she said. "Lead the way to Midnight Castle."

Firefly smiled and led the group. They regained their spirit and were ready for a fight.

Back in Dream Valley, however, the ponies' spirits were beginning to fall.

"How long have they been gone?" Lickety Split asked.

"About a couple of hours," Danny replied, looking at his watch. "We can't expect them to reach Midnight Castle on the first day."

"They did the first time," Bubbles said.

"Bubbles, shut up!" Lickety Split shouted.

"But they have to make it," Cupcake said. "They have only until midnight to defeat Enchantra and Tirac. And they have only until midnight to save Majesty."

The ponies were becoming irritable being cooped up in the cave. Mr. Moochick kept reading his books. Molly, Tommy, and the Baby Ponies had fallen asleep. Danny was making a cat's cradle out of his shoe laces. Whizzer kept dodging in and out of the castle windows. Lickety Split kept pacing around. Julie kept twirling a strand of her hair around her finger. And as usual, Shady was worrying.

"I wonder what could be taking so long," she said.

"I wish they had the Rainbow of Light," Sundance said.

"I hope they reach Midnight Castle," Shady replied. "Or else we're going to be doomed!"

"It's not us I'm worried about, Shady," Cupcake said. She glanced over at Majesty, and said nothing more. Shady got the hint right away. She agreed with Cupcake.


	6. Chapter 6

Enchantra found this delightful. Others misery made her happy.

"They're spirits are falling," she said, laughing. "And those other little ponies are nowhere near our castle!"

"What's the next plan, Enchantra?" Tirac asked.

"We keep the ponies away from Midnight Castle. I know just what to do! I'll take them off the trail! They'll never find us that way!"

Enchantra laughed as she made her magic spell and poured it over the crystal ball. Soon the atmosphere changed and the ponies, Megan, Anne, and Franky had no clue what had happened. Firefly just flew on, Sparkler close behind to light the way.

"Hmm," Firefly said. "I was sure this was the right way to Midnight Castle."

"Maybe you took a wrong turn at Albuquerque," Franky said, shrugging.

"Shut up, Franky," Anne said. "Where are we, anyway?"

"Let me check," Sparkler said. She walked forward, lighting her way. The crew had found themselves standing at the side of a rather large lake. Anne tried turning on the flashlight, but it was no use."

"I can't see exactly how big it is," she said. "Didn't you bring any batteries, Franky?"

"I knew I forgot something!" Franky shouted, snapping his fingers.

Anne groaned, and stifled the urge to hit Franky upside the head with the flashlight. Soon, there was a low growl.

"Was that your stomach, Franky?" Anne asked.

"Very funny," Franky said, glaring at Anne.

"What about you guys?" Anne asked the others, ignoring Franky.

Megan, the Bushwoolies, and the Ponies shook their heads. Soon the growl grew louder.

"Well, somebody around here is hungry!" Anne shouted. "And it's not me, I'll tell you that!"

Franky shrugged and walked toward the lake.

"I wonder if we can swim this?" he said.

"Only if your a fish," Gusty said. "Or a Sea Pony, or a shark, or a crab or a . . ."

"OCTOPUS!" Ribbon shouted, suddenly panicked.

"That too."

"No! There's a giant octopus in the lake!"

"What?!"

Without further ado, the octopus reached three tentacles out, and grabbed Megan, Anne, and Franky.

"Hang on, guys!" Firefly shouted.

Fizzy, Moondancer, and Buttons began poking the octopus with their horns. Galaxy used her magic on him. Firefly, Lofty, Medley, Paradise, and Airedale were trying to distract him from the air. The Bushwoolies began throwing things at him. It wasn't working. The octopus just squeezed Megan, Anne, and Franky tighter and started to go under the water.

"This isn't working!" Medley shouted.

"We've got to think of something else!" Gusty shouted. "Fast!"

"Wait! I have an idea!" Fizzy shouted.

"There's a first," Sparkler said.

"All of us unicorns use our magic on the octopus at the same time!"

Sparkler had to admit that was a good idea. The unicorns used their magic at the same time. Twilight drove him crazy by winking in and out. Galaxy heated the lake up until it was boiling as Gusty blew the biggest wind she could. Fizzy made the water bubble, and Glory shot out flashes of light. Moondancer tried to use her mystic powers to put the octopus to sleep. Mimic imitated a shark using her horn, and Ribbon tried to send telepathic signals of warning, as if a real shark was coming. Buttons moved rocks to try to crush the octopus's head. Sparkler created light beams that nearly blinded the octopus. Powder created a snowstorm directly above the octopus.

"It's weakening," Lofty said.

The octopus let out a fierce growl and dropped Megan, Anne, and Franky. Then it started to scream. The unicorns increased their magic. And that caused Ember to scream, for some strange reason.

"Ember, are you okay?" Anne asked, walking over to the Baby Pony.

Ember didn't answer, but she seemed to be in pain, as she had her eyes squeezed shut and she was groaning. And, on top of all that, she was starting to glow. Finally, the octopus shrank down to the size of a shrimp, thanks to all the magic that was coming to him, and swam back into the lake. Then the unicorns relaxed. Once they stopped using their powers, Ember relaxed as well.

"What was that?!" Anne asked Ember.

"I don't know," Ember said.

"Funny, that's never happened before," Bow Tie said.

"Every other time one of us uses our powers, she's fine," Twilight said.

"Have you unicorns used your powers at the exact same time before?" Franky asked.

"Nope," Mimic said. "This was our first time."

"I think it has something to do with the legend," Paradise said. "But I'm not sure exactly what it is."

Sparkler lit her horn and scanned the area. There was no way across the lake.

"I have an idea," Megan said. She took a small shell out of her pocket and threw it into the water."

"The Sea Ponies should come any minute," she said.

Suddenly, our heroes heard singing.

"Shoop-ee-doo, shoop-shoop-ee-doo. Shoop-ee-doo, shoop-shoop-ee-doo!"

"We have to get across this lake," Firefly said.

"We'd better get reinforcements," Wave Jumper said, and she dove underneath the water with Sea Winkle and Sea Light.

The others shrugged. Soon a whole fleet of Sea Ponies arrived with giant clam shell halves. the Ponies, the Bushwoolies, Megan, Anne, and Franky climbed on them and the Sea Ponies were off."

"I wonder how Majesty's holding up?" Fizzy asked.

"I don't know," Powder said. "But I hope she's okay."

Powder would have to do a lot of hoping. The Moochick tried his best to free Majesty from the spell, but nothing he did worked.

"I hope he doesn't make it worse," Lickety Split whispered.

"This isn't going to work," Cupcake said, sadly.

"What do we do now?" Lickety Split asked.

"Looks like there isn't much we can do," Sundance said. "Except wait."

"And hope they make it," Cotton Candy replied.

"This is going to be a long night," Danny said with a sigh.

The others nodded. Cupcake nudged Majesty, but she didn't get a response, like she hoped.

The Sea Ponies pulled the group across the huge lake. They were surprised to see the lake led directly to the river that took them to Midnight Castle.

"We made it!" Glory shouted.

"Not yet," Megan said, checking her watch. "We have until midnight to stop Tirac and Enchantra."

"But we don't know how," Anne said. "All Paradise can come up with is all this talk about unicorn magic." "

"I'm doing the best I can, Anne," Paradise replied. "I'm a little rusty with my legends."

"Uh oh," Franky said, as the Sea Ponies pulled our heroes up to the castle.

"What's the matter?" Gusty asked.

"Dead end," Franky said.

"How are we gonna get inside?" Fizzy asked.

"No sweat!" Firefly shouted. "I know exactly what to do!"

Firefly flew up to a gargoyle at the edge of the wall. She pushed down on it's nose with her legs. A secret door opened and our heroes walked inside. The corridor was dark and spooky.

"I think it's actually darker in here than it is outside," Anne said.

Firefly wasn't surprised about how Midnight Castle was like a maze. It just drove her crazy because she had no idea where she was going.

"I can't for the life of me remember which way we came the last time," she said.

"Me neither," Twilight replied. "What about you two?"

"Beats me," Bow Tie said.

"I was turned into a monster," Applejack said. "I can't remember much from this creepy old castle and I'm glad!"

"That was a big help," Sparkler said, sarcastically. "Okay, Galaxy. You've got a sixth sense. Where do we go?"

"My sixth sense tells me we should've stayed home," Galaxy replied. "This place gives me the creeps!"

"Amen to that!" Franky shouted.

"Franky, shut your trap and let's get a move on!" Anne shouted.

Franky gave Anne a glare, and walked on, wishing he had brought along some batteries. Walking through the dark corridor with only one unicorn's light didn't make the hallway any better to walk through. Plus it was hard to see where they were going, as the hall was narrow and they had to get into a single file line. Sparkler was at the head of it so she could give off light. Paradise was at the end of it. She was looking around the hallway for a secret entrance. When she heard a creek, she jumped at least a mile high and crashed into Anne, creating a domino effect.

"Paradise!" Lofty and Gusty shouted in unison.

"Sorry," Paradise said.

"Are we almost to the Rainbow of Darkness?" Fizzy asked.

"I still think we've got a long way to go," Firefly said.

"Especially if Tirac or Enchantra or even both of them are in the throne room," Megan said. "This isn't going to be easy without the Rainbow of Light."

Firefly nodded. The ponies had to find the Rainbow of Darkness before Tirac and Enchantra could plunge the world into an eternal darkness. They took at least a dozen twists and turns trying to find the throne room.

"Can't you remember the way you came the last time?" Gusty asked.

"It's been awhile," Firefly said. "Galaxy, give us your sixth sense. Where do we go?"

"I don't know," Galaxy said. "I feel so lost!"

"Welcome to the club," Anne said. "I'm beginning to think this is a lost cause."

"No, it isn't, Anne," Twilight said. "We have to keep moving on or else the world's gonna be plunged into eternal darkness."

The group continued around the maze. Galaxy kept running into dead ends. Anne groaned.

"Now I know why this thing is called a maze," she said. "It's amazing if you find your way out!"

Medley flew into the air and scouted around. Then, she finally saw a doorway with some sort of light coming from under it.

"I think I found something!" she shouted.

"What is it?" Firefly asked, flying up to see what Medley was looking at. "Ah ha! Follow us, everybody!"

The group followed Firefly to the door. Megan looked through the keyhole to see if she could find out whether or not it was Tirac and Enchantra's throne room.

"It's kind of dark," she said.

"They must have something stuck in the keyhole," Anne said, looking under the door. "Because there's light coming from the bottom of the door."

"But how are we gonna get in?" Lofty asked.

"Open the door," Twilight said.

Megan and Franky tried to open the door, but it was locked.

"Any other ideas?" Franky asked.

"Break it down!" Airedale said. "Stand back, everybody! Hiyo!"

Airedale gave the door a swift kick with his hind legs and it fell off it's hinges. It landed with a huge (and I mean huge) crash. BOOM! That surprised Tirac and Enchantra. It surprised Franky, Anne, Megan, and the others as well.

"Don't do that," Anne said, calmly.

"Yeah, don't," Enchantra said.

"Sorry," Airedale said, sheepishly. "But how else do you expect us to get inside a locked room?"

"Well, he does have a point," Enchantra said. "It's the only way to get in without a key and . . . . what am I doing? I'm not supposed to chitchat with the little ponies! Where's my mind? Oh well. You're too late anyway ponies. There's no way you can stop us!"

"Oh yeah?" Gusty asked. She tilted her head down and used her unicorn magic on Tirac and Enchantra. Wind soon filled the throne room. That didn't do much except knock Enchantra's crystal ball off it's stand. It cracked, but that was about all the damage.

"Anything else?" she asked. Franky pulled a squirt gun out of his bag and sprayed water all over Enchantra.

"Are you melting? Melting, what a world! What a world!" he shouted.

"That's the wicked witch of the west, stupid!" Anne shouted.

Enchantra shook her head and turned to Tirac.

"Are you sure it was these ponies who defeated you?" she asked.

Tirac shrugged. Enchantra didn't have time to deal with the ponies now. She had more important things to do.

"It's time for the final phase of my spell!" she shouted. "Tirac, unleash the Rainbow of Darkness!"

Tirac opened his pouch and the Rainbow of Darkness flew out. The ponies backed up, and so did Megan, Franky, Anne, the Bushwoolies. Enchantra sent the Rainbow of Darkness into her crystal ball. Even though it was cracked, it worked just as well as it did before. The Rainbow of Darkness filled the crystal ball and then basically took over the sky. Lightning bolts flashed through the sky and thunder clapped.

"What's happening?" Sweet Stuff asked.

"Sounds like a thunder storm," Cherries Jubilee said.

"Worse," Lickety Split said.

"The world's plunging into darkness," Sundance said.

"What time is it, Danny?" Bubbles asked.

"About eleven thirty," Danny said, looking at his watch.

"They have only half an hour to defeat Tirac and Enchantra," Morning Glory said. "If they don't, we're finished!"

"Or at least Majesty is," Royal Blue replied. "I don't know how much longer she can last under that spell."

Cupcake sighed and sat by Majesty. She had been doing that all night. Time was running out and darkness had taken over the world. The Midnight Castle Crew looked into the crystal ball and saw the darkness that was plaguing the world. Suddenly, Majesty's entire body became illuminated and it was glowing on and off, like a neon sign of a night club.

"What's happening to her now, Mr. Moochick?" Rosedust asked.

"It must be the next step in Enchantra's spell," the Moochick said. "If the others don't defeat her by midnight, I'm afraid it's the end of Ponyland, and Majesty."

"What are we going to do, Danny?" Molly asked.

"I guess we just have to wait for Megan and the others," Danny said.

"And hope they make it," Masquerade said.

"Of course they'll make it!" Gingerbread shouted, smiling. "You know it's always darkest before the dawn!"

"You said it," Lickety Split said.


	7. Chapter 7

"It's almost midnight!" Medley shouted, panicked.

"What are we gonna do now?" Gusty asked.

Enchantra laughed. She just had to get up to the roof to see this from a better view. Tirac followed.

"We can't let them go!" Galaxy said.

"Everybody to the roof!" Firefly ordered.

"Hiyo!" Airedale shouted, and followed Firefly.

Lofty gave her cousin a Look, and followed him. The others darted up to the roof as fast as they could. They had only half an hour to stop Enchantra and Tirac from plunging the world into eternal darkness. Enchantra looked over the tower at the land and laughed wickedly.

"The world as we know it will soon be covered in darkness!" she shouted. Thunder clapped at lightning flashed through the sky as she cackled.

"Not so fast!" Gusty shouted.

"Haven't you ever heard the saying it's always darkest before the dawn?" Bow Tie asked.

"And what is that supposed to mean you pathetic little twerps?" Enchantra asked, putting her hands on her hips. "All of you are pathetic."

"We'll show you pathetic!" Anne shouted. "CHAAARRRRRGE!"

Megan, Anne, and Franky charged. They jumped and tried to tackle her to the ground. Enchantra merely yawned, and sent a piece of magic at the three twelve-year-olds. Itsent them right into the wall. CRASH!

"Ouch," Anne said.

"Why don't you pick on someone your own size?!" Firefly shouted.

"Because it's more fun to pick on pathetic little ponies!" Enchantra said. With that, she summoned all her magical powers and grew about a hundred feet tall.

"This isn't a problem," Fizzy said.

"Are you kidding?!" Gusty shouted. "This is a calamity!"

"Gusty, try to blow her down," Paradise said.

Gusty tilted her head down and used her magic. Strong winds filled the air, but it was merely a breeze to Enchantra. In fact, she blew wind in the ponies' direction and then sucked it back her way like a vacuum cleaner. Medley was swept up right into it. Airedale was on the scene. He found a rope, tied a loop in it, and lassoed Medley.

"I've gotcha, Medley!" he shouted, acting very heroic.

"But who's got you?!" Medley cried.

Suddenly, Airedale was swept up in the wind. Lofty grabbed the lasso with her teeth, but she couldn't stay on the ground. Firefly, Bow Tie, and Applejack grabbed the rope to help, but they were being swept off as well. The unicorns, the baby ponies, Megan, Anne, Franky, and the Bushwoolies held onto the lasso, but they were having a hard time staying on the ground.

"Don't let go!" Applejack shouted.

Enchantra found this amusing. She stopped the wind and everyone fell to the ground with a thud. Enchantra cracked up.

"That does it!" Gusty shouted.

"I've had enough!" Mimic shouted.

Mimic, Gusty, Fizzy, and Moondancer used their powers all at once on Enchantra. She laughed and zapped them away.

"You think a little unicorn magic will stop me?!" she shouted. "Ha ha! It will take more than that to end Eternal Darkness!"

"Looks like we're sunk," Franky said.

Enchantra began zapping our heroes right and left. She dropped rocks on them and sent them into walls. Soon, every single pony, human, and Bushwoolie had been either scratched or bruised.

"We can't defeat her," Buttons asked.

"Her power's much too strong for us," Galaxy said.

"What about all that talk about unicorn magic?" Anne asked.

"Paradise, please try to remember!" Megan pleaded. "We've only got fifteen minutes to midnight!"

Paradise began to think hard. Suddenly, she remembered something.

"Unicorns!" she shouted. "All of you need to put your horns together!"

"What?" Mimic asked.

"You need to put your horns together and generate your magic! That was how the Rainbow of Light was created! All the unicorns in the land put their horns together!"

"It looks like we don't have any other choice," Galaxy said.

"We'd better get together and fast," Powder said. "Come on, everybody!"

The unicorns got into a large circle and put their horns together. Then they concentrated as hard as they could to use their magic. Once their horns lit up, power began to generate. In the meantime, the others began to fight off Tirac and Enchantra from creating more darkness. Enchantra kept blasting them back into the wall.

"It's all up to the unicorns now," Megan said.

"We help, too!" Baby Ribbon said.

"Yeah!" Baby Moondancer shouted, as she, Baby Ribbon, Baby Gusty, and Baby Glory put their horns together and generated their power. Every little bit helped.

Soon, all the unicorn magic combined. As it did, Ember began to groan. That was when Franky noticed a rainbow forming from the unicorns horns and the light was surrounding Ember. He pulled on Anne's sleeve and pointed.

"What's going on with Ember?" he asked. "You know she was looking like that back where we had to fight the octopus."

"I don't know," Anne said. "What do you think, Paradise?"

Paradise didn't know what to think. Soon, Ember flew into the air without wings and she moved in front of Enchantra's face.

"A little baby pony is going to defeat me?" she scoffed. "Oh no, I'm so scared."

Ember glared at Enchantra and with that glare, rainbow light soared from her eyes. The others were shocked. Then, a giant rainbow came from the unicorns' horns and surrounded Ember, giving her more rainbow power. These powers suddenly blasted from her hind quarters, as a star appeared on her sides. Then the unicorns made another rainbow, similar to the Rainbow of Light. It surrounded Tirac and Enchantra and let out it's full power, as well as Ember, giving off her own powers.

"Duck and cover, everybody!" Megan shouted.

Midnight Castle began to rumble. Pieces of the stone walls were falling. The rainbow the unicorns made was making it's way around the castle, destroying it, Tirac, and Enchantra.

"No!" Enchantra shouted. "I've come too far to stop now!"

She began to use her own magic, but it was no match for the rainbow.

"Nooooo!" Enchantra screamed, as she and Tirac exploded with a loud KABOOM!

The castle started to shake. Soon, the unicorns stopped using all their magic. Ember landed safely on the ground. The unicorns collapsed. The others just stood there, and stared at the spot where Tirac and Enchantra blew up.

"Wow," Gusty said.

"What a bang," Applejack said.

It began to rain all of a sudden. Franky looked at his watch. It was midnight on the dot. He broke into a big smile.

"We did it," he said. "We did it! It's midnight! It's midnight! We did it! We've stopped Eternal Darkness!"

"All right!" Anne shouted.

"Hooray!" Fizzy cheered.

"We'd better get back to Dream Valley and see if Majesty's okay," Paradise said.

"Let's go!" Megan shouted.

The group ran from Midnight Castle and back to Dream Valley as fast as they could. Lickety Split and Shady were standing guard at the entrance of the castle at the Royal Paradise.

"Oh great," Lickety Split said. "It's raining."

"What time is it, Danny?" Shady asked. Danny checked watch, and his face grew very grim.

"Midnight," he said. "And we don't know if they made it or not."

Suddenly, Lickety Split saw the others run to the cave, bruised, battered, and wet from the rain. Not one of them came out of the fight without a scratch.

"We did it!" Anne shouted. "We've stopped them!"

"Hooray!" Shady shouted. "Let's get inside and see what happens with Majesty!"

The others gathered around Majesty, watching anxiously for something to happen. All of a sudden, her body stopped glowing. Julie gripped Megan's hand and bit her lip. Majesty groaned slightly, shifted, and his eyes slowly opened.

"What time is it?" she asked, leaning up. "What happened? What are all of you little ponies doing here?"

"She's okay!" Cupcake shouted.

"Yay!" Julie cheered, as she hugged Cupcake around the neck.

"Of course I'm all right," Majesty said. "But will someone please tell me what's happening?"

"It's a long story, your Majesty," Anne said. "See, it all started at the spring festival the little ponies were giving."

Bit by bit, the group filled Majesty in on the details of what had happened, from the fire at Paradise Estate to the battle on the tower at Midnight Castle.

"Ember was the real hero," Twilight said.

"I'm wondering how she did it," Franky said. "All that rainbow power coming out of a cute little pony! Wow!" "

"I don't know," Ember said. "Once Twilight and the other unicorns put their horns together and made their magic, I just zapped the bad guys with the rainbow magic."

"I always knew you were a special little pony," Twilight said, as she nuzzled Ember.

"Hey, guys!" Danny called. "It stopped raining and the sun's coming up!"

The others walked out of the palace in order to see the sunrise as they stood on the hill. It truly was a beautiful sight. But then, Baby Shady saw something at the bottom of the hill.

"Look everybody!" she shouted.

Everybody looked and saw that Paradise Estate had been restored, as well as the Lullaby Nursery.

"It's a miracle!" Firefly shouted.

"It's impossible!" Wind Whistler shouted, astonished.

"I don't care what it is!" Medley shouted. "It's home!"

Nobody could argue there. They were happy to have their old home back.

"I'll never look at it the same way again," Twilight said.

"You know something, Twilight?" Anne said. "I won't either."

As the little ponies and their friends sang, a rainbow shined over Paradise Estate. The ponies knew they had saved the day, and their greatest adventure had come to an end.

The End


End file.
